The Secret Life of the Romanian Vampire
by emodinosaurX3
Summary: Being a half-vampire in Vampireville, Transylvania is no pleasure, especially for Claude and his friends. How will the quartet of half-vampires deal with a particular bullying quartet of full vamps, especially when confrontations seem to grow more frequent?


_**The Secret Life of the Romanian**_ **_Vampire_  
**Vampire Kisses fanfiction

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_**Author's Note:**_ So, I've started another fanfiction. What a surprise, huh? xD Hahaha, well, let's hope this one will actually make it to the end. I do recall me saying that I feel like a new story is going to make it to the end, but it ends up getting scrapped. d: *sigh* Well, fingers crossed. I really only started this because I wanted something light-hearted and fun (although, I guess judging by this first chapter, it might not seem that way, but trust me; it'll get there), since the other stories I'm writing are more serious or include serious situations. Anyway, enough rambling! Time to let you read. Thank you, BrutieBoots, for making Vaile and Elisabeta (though Elisabeta isn't directly mentioned in this chapter). cx Enjoy the chapter! Leave your reviews, please. I enjoy reading your feedback. Honestly makes my day. cx Thank you, peeps! -Michele :3

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Chapter **1** | _Claude_

The Sterling castle was one of the finest landmarks in all of Romania. With more than 100 acres of fenced land and one million square feet of floorspace, the magnificent gothic castle was often awed upon by villagers and tourists that looked up at it from their town. It was often rumored that the castle was actually filled with deadly creatures of the night. Blood-suckers that slept in coffins and feared the sunlight. Little did the villagers know that those rumors were actually fact.

The Sterling family was one of the most prestigious vampire families in Romania. Generations of the pure vampire family dated back to the early 1400s, expanding their prestigious vampire heritage amongst other vampires, and turning humans to join their race. Generation after generation, families of full-blooded vampires continued to grow with the Sterling name. There had never been a case where a child was born without a full vampire gene.

That is, until Claude Sterling came along.

Born to Cassius and Carlotta Sterling, a pair of brilliant and proud vampires, Claude was a rare case—only half of the vampire gene was passed to him, and the other half remained human. This was perhaps due to the fact that Claude's grandmother, Baroness Alexandria Sterling, was a human, never turned vampire when she married into the Sterling family. For that, she was always an outcast, and never fully considered an actual part of the family. However, around the same time, Cassius' brother, Constantine, and his wife Cassandra—another pair of pure blooded vampires—had also given birth to their firstborn son as well, and he was just as much of a vampire as the rest of the family.

And for all of his life, Claude had been treated differently. During family reunions Claude's cousins felt weird around him when they wanted to play games in their vampire bat forms, since Claude did not have this ability has a half-vampire. His aunts and uncles treated him like he was mentally disabled, and often talked very slow to him, or offered to do things for him that he was perfectly capable of performing himself.

At the same time, everybody _loved_ his cousin, Alexander. And due to their similar features, sometimes they would get mixed up and Claude would be called Alexander accidentally, which further his anger and annoyance. Always during reunions it was Alexander this, or Alexander that. Never, "Claude is such a good boy," "Have you seen how big Claude is growing? He's turning into a handsome young man!" or even, "He's really coming along as a vampire! I'm sure there will be some way to make him completely turned."

He'd always been a stubborn kid, and a bit of a brat, but maybe it was because of his treatment that really spawned this behavior.

Now, at sixteen years old, he still remained a half-vampire, but the treatment didn't get much better. He had to be careful when walking certain streets at night, where vampire bullies and thugs lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce on innocent humans. They could smell the half-human blood that flowed through him and often bullied and teased him, chasing him out of their alleys.

He walked down the hall of the Sterling castle, hands tucked into the front pockets of his tight jeans, and passed the large painted portraits of his vampire ancestors. He despised all of them and the rest of his family, but secretly he longed to be just like them—a full-fledged, pureblooded vampire. And each morning, when he climbed into his coffin, he constantly wondered, _Why me? _Why him, and not his goody-two-shoes cousin, Alexander?

He traipsed down the grand staircase and entered the sitting room, throwing himself onto a black velvet sofa and propping his combat boot-clad feet onto the ancient marble coffee table. He flipped his cell phone open, checking to see if he had any messages from his best friends, whom he would be meeting in just a few short minutes.

His mother walked in, pale blonde hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, her spiraling curls spilling over her shoulder elegantly. She was a tall woman, but Claude easily towered over her, with pallid skin and bright blue eyes. Her hourglass figure was pressed into a corset dress, the ruffled skirt dragging on the floor. The corset tied over her dress helped her cleavage accentuate above the plunging square neckline, and an old gothic lace choker was tied around her delicate neck.

"Feet, Claude," she snapped at him, pointing her long finger at his boots on the table. Claude groaned and rolled his eyes, reluctantly obeying his mother as he pulled his feet off of the table. "What are you going to do with your friends tonight?"

"I don't know," he said with disinterest. He was sixteen years old. Did he really have to keep telling his mom where he would be?

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You better not be getting into any trouble tonight," she warned him.

"Why would I intentionally get myself into trouble?" he asked her. "It's not like I ask other vampires to pick on me."

His mother briefly narrowed her eyes at his tone before softening her look. She stroked her son's dyed-blonde hair back and pressed her lips to the top of his head.

"Things will get better, my love," she said softly before leaving him. He remained silent as he went through his phone, ignoring her affection. He became even more bitter, especially because his mother was only saying that to comfort him, when, in reality, it wasn't going to get any better from here on out.

Luckily, he received the message he was waiting for from one of his best friends, Tripp. He typed a quick response and darted for the door, yelling at whoever would listen that he would be home later.

Claude's best friends meant the world to him, and there was one main reason as to why that was: his three best friends were also half-vampires too. They all shared the same pain, the same torment, and the same abuse. They all blatantly how annoying full vampires were, but, like Claude, they secretly wished they were just like them too.

He met them outside the gate of his family's property, flicking his choppy bangs out of his face and putting on a smirk. The silver ring threaded through his bottom lip glinted in the moonlight, and his dark brown eyes were narrowed.

"Finally," he said when he reached them. "I thought I'd have to listen to my mother nag at me about being cautious of vampires forever. What took so long?" He tugged on the flaps of his leather, fur-lined-collar jacket, which he sported with a black t-shirt with a massively torn neckline, tight red plaid skinny jeans, and punk combat boots. His long bony fingers were riddled with sterling silver rings, and his nails were painted raven black.

Kat, the sole female of their quartet, rolled her eyes and popped her trademark bubblegum. She was petite and curvy, dressed in a pink and black corset top with ribbon straps, a vinyl jacket, and black tutu skirt over pink and black striped stockings, her feet stuffed into white Doc Martens boots. Her purple hair was sliced at her jawline and created an uneven-styled bob, few black streaks combing through her hair. Her trademark devil horn headband was tucked neatly in her hair.

"Blame Tripp. The kid was freaking out because he couldn't find his iPod," she said. Tripp shot her a dirty look.

"You'd freak out too if you thought you lost your prized possession!" he snapped back, which wasn't really like him, but amongst his quartet, he was more open.

He was a lanky pale boy, with long legs dressed in tight black pants, skull suspenders hanging from his waist. His skinny torso was compressed in a white button-down top, a blood red tie neatly secured around his neck. He sported black Creepers and his thick rectangular frames were settled on the bridge of his straight nose. He blew a stray strand of his flaxen locks out of his face as he glared at Kat, black earphones secured in his ears as he listened to the heavy metal blaring out of the iPod stuffed in the back pocket of his pants.

"Tripp's got a point," Rocco, the brawniest of the four, agreed. "Imagine if you ran out of packs of bubblegum. You'd be hysterical."

Rocco was big for his age, barely turning 17. He towered over the other three of his companions and had such a built figure. He was dressed in a black hooded sweater with the logo of one of his favorite bands, torn skinny jeans, and combat boots. His ears were stretched with medium-sized gauges and a grey knit beanie was pulled over his scruffy black hair. Around his neck was a spiked collar that he never seemed to take off.

Tripp and Claude laughed along with his comment. Kat sneered at them all.

"Whatever," she snapped. "Can we just go? I want a milkshake and raw hamburger."

The others agreed and began walking down into town. There was a certain restaurant that served the best hamburgers and milkshakes in all of Bucharest, and the four half-vampires frequented the place almost every night. At first, when they ordered their meat on the raw side, the servers were puzzled, but now they knew that it was their usual.

"So my parents are throwing another reunion party in a few weeks," groaned Claude, smearing a French fry in the bloody juices from his hamburger. "As if I really want to see my entire family let them act all awkward towards me."

"Hang out at my house," said Tripp. "My parents won't mind it."

"I wish," muttered Claude, chomping on his fry. "You know how my parents are."

"You're almost seventeen. They've got to let you have the choice on whether you want to attend or not. It's not as if seeing your family is going to benefit you," Kat said before taking a sip from her milkshake.

"If your parents really cared, they'd let you sit this reunion out," Rocco added.

Claude nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I really would rather not sit through one of those things again, especially if Alexander might go."

"Alexander is going to go?" Kat piped with interest.

"Probably. His parents and sister are."

"Didn't he move to America?" Rocco mentioned.

"Yeah, he did. I don't know, I still don't want to go, whether he'll be there or not," Claude said stubbornly.

They finished their burgers and shakes and left the restaurant, Claude leaving a hefty tip that the servers always looked forward to. They decided to walk around town, heading towards the city park that was always empty during the late hours of the day.

They chatted and laughed at jokes, reminiscing on fun times they had with each other, or funny events that had happened in the past. There was hardly ever a bad day with them, despite their minor quarrels, they got over them quickly. They understood each other like no one ever could.

But, as always, their fun night was short-lived.

"Oh gross," a voice from behind them sneered. Claude and his friends turned around to see another quartet, one they were all too familiar with, and not necessarily in a positive way. "Aren't you guys supposed to be sleeping at this hour?"

The voice belonged to a tall slender girl, with porcelain skin and a ballerina figure. Her pin-straight black hair fell to the small of her back, and a straight fringe was cut across her forehead. She had eyes like a doe, and they were bright and lavender. A small diamond stud was pierced above her lip while her ears were aligned with many various piercings.

She stood with her arms crossed and her chin high, a smug smirk spreading across her face.

"I'll have you eat those words, Burnstone," snarled Claude, marching towards her with his fangs drawn. The sole male of the new quartet stepped in front of the black-haired girl, but instead of being intimidated by Claude's threat, she merely tilted her head back and laughed.

"Aw! You're so funny, Sterling. And those are some cute little fangs. Where did you get those done at?" she taunted.

"Why don't you leave us alone for once, Nellie?" snapped Kat, crossing her arms as well. The girl—Nellie—smirked at her.

"Oh, Kat …. Still wearing baby doll clothes? Like, literally a baby doll's clothing," Nellie said snidely. Kat rolled her eyes before glaring at her.

"What do you want, Burnstone?" Claude interrupted. Nellie turned her narrowed lavender eyes onto him.

"You all know fully well that the city park belongs to us when the moon rises," she said. Tripp narrowed his eyes.

"What? No it's not," he argued.

"Yes, it is," sneered the male of the other quartet. He was tall—however not as tall as Rocco—with a finely sculpted athletic figure and porcelain skin. His choppy black hair was streaked with green and it hugged the nape of his neck while bangs fell diagonally over his forehead, skimming over his pierced eyebrows. He had quite a handsome face with bright emerald eyes, an impeccably straight nose, and full lips pierced with snake-bite studs. Several rings were threaded through the cartilage of both of his ears, along with an industrial bar through his right ear.

"Since when?" snapped Claude.

"We don't answer to half-vamps," snarled Nellie with her nose in the air.

"Well answer us this. The city park has never been _yours_," Rocco said.

"Didn't you hear her?" the male vampire said. "We don't answer to vermin like you."

Rocco bared his teeth and squared off with him. The full vampire smirked and shook his head.

"Pathetic," he snickered.

"Vaile, stop fighting with the half-vamps. No need to waste your breath," Nellie said with a wave of her hand. She turned back to Claude. "The city park has always been ours. You should know better than to roam places that belong to _actual_ vampires during our hours." She took a step forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. "You _do_ know what happens when vampires come across people they don't like, don't you?" She bared her fangs at him, and Claude glared at her, but before he could say anything, the sight of the rest of her companions baring their fangs and quietly hissing at them made him keep his mouth shut.

"Okay, okay! We're leaving," he said in defeat.

Nellie withdrew her finger and backed away.

"Good."

Claude and his friends turned on their heels and began to walk away, helpless and angry. It was because of bullies like Nellie Burnstone and her motley crew that they wanted to become vampires like them, just to show them that they could be just as good as them. Claude wanted nothing more than to show Nellie Burnstone her place, to boss her around to see how she liked it.

Alas, he could do nothing but dream. The fact of the matter was that even Nellie was stronger than Claude—stronger than Rocco, even—and there was no use in fighting her. There was no use in getting embarrassed, either.

But one day … One day Claude was going to show her. He was going to put her in her place.


End file.
